Baladi News
Reporting by: Omar al-Hasan
The tenth round of Astana negotiations has been concluded in Sochi, without reaching any significant decisions or practical plans.
Assad representative in Sochi, Bashar al-Jaafari, vowed to recapture Idlib by force from the armed opposition, despite the Russians' assurances that no major assault is planned against Idlib.
Al-Jaafari threatened of waging a huge military operation, in order to take the province of Idlib which is controlled by the armed opposition, and where Turkey established several observation posts.
He said: "what the Syrian government wants is the return of Idlib through the national reconciliations, but it doesn't happen through reconciliations, the Syrian army has the right to recapture it by force."
"Turkish government didn't keep its commitments to the de-escalation agreement in Idlib, where it sent massive reinforcement to Idlib, unlike the agreement of Astana regarding the de-escalation areas," al-Jaafari said, "Moreover, Turkey occupied Afrin and expelled its people."
On the other hand, the Russian envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, denied any plan for a military operation on Idlib, calling on the Syrian opposition to find a solution for what he called the "terrorists threats" in the province.